The paradox of our time in history is that we have taller buildings, but shorter tempers; wider freeways, but narrower viewpoints; we spend more, but have less; we buy more, but enjoy it less.

We have bigger houses and smaller families; more conveniences, but less time; we have more degrees, but less sense; more knowledge, but less judgment; more experts, but more problems; more medicine, but less wellness.

We have multiplied our possessions, but reduced our values. We talk too much, love too seldom, and hate too often. We've learned how to make a living, but not a life; We've added years to life, not life to years.

We've been all the way to the moon and back, but have trouble crossing the street to meet the new neighbor. We've conquered outer space, but not inner space; We've done larger things, but not better things;

We've cleaned up the air, but polluted the soul; We've split the atom, but not our prejudice; We write more, but learn less; We plan more, but accomplish less.

We've learned to rush, but not to wait; We have higher incomes, but lower morals; We have more food, but less appeasement; We build more computers to hold more information to produce more copies than ever, but have less communication; We've become long on quantity, but short on quality.

These are the times of fast foods and slow digestion; tall men, and short character; steep profits, and shallow relationships. These are the times of world peace, but domestic warfare; more leisure, but less fun; more kinds of food, but less nutrition. These are days of two incomes, but more divorce; of fancier houses, but broken homes.

These are days of quick trips, disposable diapers, throw away morality, one-night stands, overweight bodies, and pills that do everything from cheer to quiet, to kill.

Synopsis During her career as a comedienne, Jackie "Moms" Mabley (1894-1975) was a true trailblazer. Debut director Whoopi Goldberg is one of the comedians who Mabley inspired. Goldberg gets many of her colleagues to speak about this inspiring woman, including Joan Rivers, Anne Meara, Bill Cosby, Eddie Murphy, Sidney Poitier and Harry Belafonte. They discuss segregation, the civil rights movement and the Chitlin' Circuit, a special circuit of venues for black artists. Mabley herself is also present, in old sound recordings, illustrated by text and cutout animation, and in excerpts from movies and TV appearances. She performed with greats like Cab Calloway, Louis Armstrong and Miles Davis, and as a character looked "like my mother," according to comic Kathy Griffin: with a large floral-print dress and no teeth. Thanks to this harmless-looking exterior and her huge popularity, Mabley got away with sharp political criticism, was invited to the White House, and went to Sing Sing prison to perform every year. In the words of Joan Rivers, "A lady, standing up there, telling the truth." (International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam)

"Whoopi Goldberg Presents Moms Mabley," in which the former directs a film about the latter, premieres Monday on HBO. It is an homage and a celebration, with something of a high-class homemade feel. The first black female comic to make it in the American pop-cultural mainstream — the first black female stand-up comic, possibly — Jackie "Moms" Mabley will be unknown to many today. She died in 1975, after a career that began before the First World War but was visible only to the white audience from the 1960s, when she began appearing on network variety and talk shows. Clad in a floral housecoat, argyle socks and big shoes, with a cap pulled down on her head and her dentures left in the dressing room, speaking (by the time I saw her) in a trademark croak, Mabley was instantly memorable, a familiar strange bird: It was as if your grandmother had suddenly stepped out onto the stage of "The Ed Sullivan Show" to say things your — well, my — grandmother would never say. Much of her humor had a risqué edge, but she had a political streak as well. . . continue reading>>

A Movie To Watch Out For: It's called Destination Planet Negro by writer, director and co-star Kevin Willmott (who previously made the satirical C.S.A.: The Confederate States of America, and teaches filmmaking at the University of Kansas).

It made its premiere in February, and is continuing to travel the film festival circuit. It's a genuinely laugh out loud, funny, and very clever spoof that, at times, approaches the manic heights of In Living Color during its heyday.

The premise itself is very original: a group of black leaders, including even W.E.B DuBois, during the 1930’s, gather together for a secret meeting to discuss the “NegroProblem” in America.

They decide that the only real solution is for black people to not only leave America, but this planet altogether, and, with the help of George Washington Carver, build a rocket ship to take an exploratory group to Mars, to check out the possibility of such a bold undertaking.

But as in all sci-fi movies, something goes wrong, and the three explorers wind up in present day America, to their befuddlement (For example in one scene, they see a black man with sagging jeans below his posterior, and speculate that black people in the future are so malnourished that their clothes are falling off them. And when explained to them who President Obama is, the shock is too great for them with one of them promptly passing out).

The first 30 minutes of the film are done in a campy 1950’s black and white sci-fi style, with appropriately cheesy music and special effects, while the scenes in present day America are shot in color and directed in a more natural, contemporary style, which is all even more impressive considering that, because of the film’s restrictive budget, it took Willmont an entire year to shoot the film, filming only a few scenes at a time.

All the leads are terrific in their roles, giving the film the right tongue in cheek comic touch - never too broad or with any self-conscious winking at the camera.

Hopefully the film will make it to your neck of the words, or will get a theatrical and VOD/DVD distribution deal, but it’s a truly charming and funny film that makes some genuinely real and honest observations about the mindset and attitudes of Black Americans today. (Source of article: blogs.indiewire.com/shadowandact)

www.planetnegro.com

It’s 1939 America and the Black community’s greatest minds are searching for the solution to the “Negro Problem.” One answer? Build a spaceship, fill it with all of America’s Negroes, and fly to Mars, with the help of George Washington Carver’s peanut/sweet potato–based rocket fuel. And, like many plans, this one goes awry. Word gets out that Negroes are leaving and White folk get angry, so the departure is moved up to ASAP. The intrepid team includes Dr. Warrington Avery, the physicist who designed and built the spacecraft (Director Kevin Willmott); Dr. Beneatha Avery, astronomer and lovely daughter of Dr. Avery (Danielle Cooper); Captain Race “Ace” Johnson, the best Negro pilot in the world and all-around chauvinist (Tosin Morohunfolo); and Strom, a robot that speaks with a colloquial Southern accent. The team heads to Mars, but their ship gets pulled into a wormhole. They crash land on present-day Earth, in a deserted part of Kansas City. As in the Wizard of Oz, the film changes from black-and-white to color, seemingly to contrast the dark past with the promise of a bright future. Dr. Avery claims the planet on behalf of all the “poor, oppressed, and colored people of the world,” and then tells Strom to stay behind and fix the ship while they search the planet. Looks like the struggle is still real for nonbiological life forms. . . continue reading>> Review: Destination: Planet Negro!Links to more info & articles:Kevin WillmottKevin Willmott on YouTubeDestination Planet Negro (Facebook Page)SLIFF shows bold, black face

"The Scarlet Ibis" is a short story written by novelist James Hurst. It was first published in The Atlantic Monthly in July 1960 and won the "Atlantic First" award. It has been frequently republished in other collections.

PlotThe narrator, who is not named but simply called "Brother", recounts the life of his younger brother, William Armstrong, whom his brother named "Doodle." From then on, he was referred to as Doodle. Doodle is born a sickly child who is not expected to live. His brother wanted someone who could run and jump and play with him but resents having the weak and fragile Doodle instead. Eventually, at the age of six, Doodle learns to walk with help from Brother. Encouraged by this, the brother decides to teach Doodle how to run, climb vines, swim, and even fight to prepare Doodle for school. However, almost a year after the plan was made, Doodle was far from accomplishing the goals by the nearing deadline. . . continue reading>>